Take a Little OneStep
by Bleeding Heart Sacred Soul
Summary: How she did it, he would never know, but somehow Claire convinced Jack to go ice-skating with her. JM/CK. One-shot.


"_No._ Absolutely _not._"

"Aw, c'mon, Jack," Claire said, giving him the puppy-dog eyes he usually found irresistible.

Jack started weakening, but he made himself remain firm. "_No,_ Claire. I wouldn't even take my daughter ice skating when she was little."

Claire put her hands on her hips and gave him a mock glare. "Well, no wonder she won't talk to you now."

"That was a low blow."

"Come on, Jack, it'll be fun…I'll even make hot chocolate afterwards," Claire wheedled, already hearing the music of the skating rink. "Besides, you need to get some exercise."

Jack started to make a raunchy suggestion, but then he realised that she was in deadly earnest. Still he hesitated. She was always suggesting places for them to go…usually he shot her down. Come to think of it, he'd always done that with his girlfriends…_and he had lost them all._ Claire was different. He heaved a sigh and threw up his hands. "All right. Let's go skating."

Rockefeller was always crowded weekends, but during the week, it was usually pretty empty, even in the evenings. Jack was thankful of that—it meant there would be fewer people to watch him make a fool of himself. Claire owned a pair of ice skates, which somehow didn't surprise him, but she rented a pair for him and helped him to lace them up. Before he could say anything else—or manage to wobble onto his feet—she had already laced up her own skates and stepped out onto the ice.

"I love the taste of winter," Claire sighed rapturously, twirling on her skates before stopping to laugh at Jack, who was still trying to stand up in his. "Need a hand, sweetheart?"  
"Need a crutch is more like it," Jack grumbled, finally managing to get himself on his feet and staggering a couple paces before falling against the guardrail. "Dammit."

"Language," Claire scolded him archly. "Want me to help you get on the ice?"  
"I can do it myself," Jack said irritably, stepping out onto the ice and slipping. He struggled to his feet and fell for a third time.

Claire smiled. "I'll leave you to get acclimated, shall I?" she said.

"Yeah, you do that," Jack said, grabbing the wall and hauling himself to a standing position, then turning towards the main part of the rink.

Claire gave a little jump, she twirled around in mid-air and landed with both feet planted, and Jack was so impressed that he took three steps onto the ice and landed promptly and painfully on his back. He yelped at the sudden cold, hard impact of ice against his bottom; Claire could barely help him back up she was laughing so hard.

"It's not funny, that hurt," Jack protested, glaring at her, but the glare lost its sting when he chuckled a little too.

"Yes, it is." Claire got him back on his feet and guided him over to the wall of the rink. "Want to try skating along the wall for a while?"

"Sounds like a good idea."

"Great, I'll see you later." With that, she took off.

There was something whimsical about the way Claire was skating, Jack thought, but at the same time it was magical. He stared after her for a moment, then shrugged and kept going. Despite holding the guardrail, he seemed to fall every few inches or so.

"Next time I'm wearing snow pants," he muttered to himself.

"Having a little trouble, Jack?" Claire asked cynically, coming around from behind him; she had already completed an entire circuit of the rink, while he was struggling to get more than two yards from the entrance.

"A little…yikes!" His concentration broken, Jack's feet shot out from under him. He let go of the guardrail in surprise and landed on the ground again.

Claire had gone past him and called without looking back, "Oh, come on, this isn't that bad, is it?"

"I'm pretty sure the lowest circle of hell is ice for a reason, Claire," Jack grumbled as he picked himself up from the slick surface of the ice for the umpteenth time, only to fall again. "That's it. I think I'll stay here."

Claire turned around and almost fell over laughing as she realised that Jack was simply lying on his back, staring up at the sky with a comical expression of helplessness on his face. "Oh, you…here, let me help."

She skated back and helped him to his feet, but this time she didn't let go. "Look, I'll _teach_ you how to ice skate, okay?"

"If you say so. Personally, I've never found reason to doubt the old adage 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks'."

Claire grinned up at Jack, who was only a little taller than she was. "One: you're not old. Two: you've learned plenty of things since I've met you. And three: I taught my cousin how to skate."

She pulled him away from the guardrail, then took his hands in hers. "Okay, look. Slide your foot forward, then the other one. Watch my feet. Copy my feet." She began skating slowly backwards.

Jack let her pull him for a moment, then cautiously tried moving first one foot, then the other…then fell. "Dammit!" he yelped.

Claire had caught him before he hit the ice. "You're doing fine, Jack. Just forget you're on skates. Imagine you're sliding on socks."

The song ended and a new one came on. Claire listened for a moment, then grinned. "Excellent. Listen to me, listen to the song, and you'll get it."

Jack concentrated on Claire's face as she sang the words at him, and pretended—as she had suggested—that he was on his socks sliding the halls instead of balancing on thin silver blades. The song made him slowly smile. He was so busy concentrating on Claire's face and his feet that he didn't even notice when she let go of his hands and started skating with her hands behind her back, grinning at him.

"You've got it, Jack! You've got it!"

"I've got it!" Jack echoed, thrilled silly with himself. Claire came around to his side as he asked her, "What was that song, anyway? It worked like a charm!"

"It's called 'Take a Little One-Step'. It's from a musical called 'No, No, Nanette'."

"I should have known," Jack said, smiling. Musicals were Claire's passion.

Claire smiled up at Jack, then hugged him. "I'm so proud of you, Jack."

Jack hugged her back, then suddenly slipped. This time he dragged Claire down with him, and both of them lay in a heap, giggling helplessly and trying to untangle themselves so they could get up, just enjoying the day they had together.


End file.
